Comments on: What You Need to Know about Landing An Agent

By: Sandra Jensen

Sandra Jensen — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:52:49 +0000

Thought I’d add publishing in literary magazines: I’ve had three agents contact me because they read work of mine in these. Now I should add I haven’t landed an agent yet, they are looking for a longer work (which I am working on)…

By: Larry

Larry — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:38:56 +0000

@Debra — great point. I think the most effective way to connect with an agent is to meet with them at a writing conference (you know, the “scheduled” ten minute face to face), which allows the chemistry to brew and gives both parties a sense of each other. If the agent really likes you, then perhaps that’ll influence how they react to your work. Online submissions (like old school mail submissions) don’t allow for that, and I agree, this trend will soon take over. Guess we have to be charismatic in our query and cover letters.

It’s never been easy, it’ll never be easy, even as it changes.

Thanks for commenting. L.

By: Debra C

Debra C — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 08:50:06 +0000

Overall, all of this information is good. But email and ebook readers and such seem to be changing things a little. Since agents no longer have to print out (or wait for a printed copy) of a manuscript, there is a growing trend of them asking for a full, right at the beginning. I’ve been following quite a few agents on Twitter and they all tend to have ebook readers. So if they request a full, they can still stop after three chapters if they don’t like it, but if they want to read more, they don’t have to wait. Though, one agent did blog about the fact that that might be giving authors more hope/confidence than if they used the older system of asking for a partial and then a full.

Just thought I’d toss it out there that being asked for a full instead of a partial isn’t always a sign that they’re more interested. Sometimes it’s a sign that they’re more impatient.